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FAITH-HEALING 

IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  AND  SEVENTEENTH 
CENTURIES 


READ   BEFORE 

THE   AMERICAN  FOLK-LORE  SOCIETY 

NOVEMBER  29,  1890 
BY 

CHARLES  F.  COX 


NEW-YORK 

THE  DE  VINNE  PRESS 

i8qi 


FAITH-HEALING 


IN  THE  SIXTEENTH  AND  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURIES. 


By  Charles  F.  Cox. 


Read  before  the  American  Folk-lore  Society,  November  29,  1890. 


There  is  no  absolutely  new  form  that  superstition  can 
assume.  It  long  ago  passed  its  highest  point  of  evolution, 
so  that  species  of  this  genus  do  not  now  originate.  Such 
varieties  as  occasionally  seem  to  arise  anew  and  flourish  for 
a  while  are  merely  reappearances  of  the  ancient  stock,  greatly 
weakened  in  character,  and  with  a  decidedly  reversionary 
tendency.  For,  happily,  over-credulous  supernaturalism  is  in 
the  condition  of  those  organisms  described  by  Darwin,  which 
have  become  out  of  adjustment  to  their  environment  and  are, 
therefore,  inevitably  yielding  place  to  fitter  forms,  and  slowly 
but  surely  approaching  extinction.  They  renew  the  struggle 
for  existence  from  season  to  season,  but  with  less  and  less 
vigor,  and  less  and  less  success,  until,  by  the  inexorable  law  of 
natural  selection,  might  at  last  becomes  right. 

This  is  true,  also,  of  all  phases  of  occultism,  which  is  being 
gradually  superseded  by  rationalism  —  if  I  may  be  allowed 
to    use  a  much-abused   word    in    its    proper    sense.      Reason 


652650 


refuses  to  take  cognizance  of  results  attributed  to  inscruta- 
ble causes,  and  insists  upon  testing  all  phenomena  by  known 
laws.  Not  that  all  the  laws  of  nature  have  been  formulated, 
but  that  enough  are  determined  to  deprive  mystery  of  its 
awfulness,  and  to  give  man  courage  and  confidence  in  ap- 
proaching that  which  he  does  not  understand.  A  thorough 
and  well-grounded  faith  in  the  uniformity  of  nature  is  the 
antidote  to  those  epidemic  delusions  which  have  periodically 
swept  over  the  world,  carrying  off  their  myriad  victims  like 
pestilent  diseases.  It  is  not  because  the  sum  of  our  know- 
ledge is  greater,  but  because  our  confidence  in  the  results  of 
inductive  logic  is  stronger,  that  we  are  not  driven  hither  and 
thither  by  the  force  of  morbid  imagination,  as  were  the  poor 
Convulsionnaires  and  Flagellants  of  the  fourteenth  and  fif- 
teenth centuries,  and  the  wretched  Witch-maniacs  of  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth. 

The  law  of  evolution  does  not  demand  the  entire  elimination 
of  primitive  forms,  but  by  its  operation  they  cease  to  be  the 
types  of  prevailing  organization,  and,  in  successive  epochs,  are 
relegated  to  more  and  more  subordinate  places.  The  course 
of  development  is  like  a  progression  in  musical  harmony.  As 
we  raise  the  key  some  of  the  lowest  notes  of  the  chord  drop 
out  and  some  notes  are  added  at  the  highest  point,  but  the 
modulation  is  mostly  a  change  of  relative  position  and  value 
of  tones  which  have  remained  in  the  chord  all  the  time.  So, 
as  the  general  scale  of  human  intelligence  moves  upward, 
some  of  the  traits  characteristic  of  the  earliest  and  lowest  of 
mankind  disappear  entirely,  and  some  new  faculties  are  ac- 
quired by  the  expanding  minds  of  the  very  highest;  but  the 
principal  change  which  occurs  is  a  readjustment  of  relations, 
resulting  in  an  average  betterment. 

There  are  to-day  perhaps  a  few  lofty  intellects  which  are 
wholly  emancipated  from  the  bondage  of  superstition.  At  the 
other  end  of  the  scale,  however,  is  a  vast  number  of  men  re- 
moved but  one  degree  of  cousinship  from  their  quadrumanous 
relatives  —  cowed  and  crushed  beneath  the  fear  of  that  which 
they  imagine  "  stands  over  "  them,  but  which  they  cannot  see, 
nor  feel,  nor  comprehend,  but  only  endeavor  to  placate  and 


5 

appease.  In  between  there  exists  every  grade  of  mental  ob- 
liquity or  perversion,  from  that  of  the  man  who  objects  to 
beginning  a  journey  on  Friday,  or  the  maiden  who  will  not 
be  married  in  May,  down  to  that  of  the  confiding  worshiper 
of  doubtful  relics,  or  the  self-seeking  pilgrim  to  "  Our  Lady  of 
Lourdes." 

The  number  of  those  who  dislike  to  see  the  moon  over  the 
left  shoulder,  or  to  pick  up  a  pin  with  the  point  in  the  wrong 
direction,  or  to  spill  salt,  or  to  raise  an  umbrella  within  doors, 
or  to  sit  in  a  company  of  thirteen  at  table,  is  probably  larger 
than  most  of  us  suppose.  But  the  survival  of  these  attenuated 
forms  of  superstition,  together  with  the  fancy  amongst  intelli- 
gent people  for  four-leafed  clovers,  for  cast-off  horseshoes, 
and  for  rabbits'  feet,  and  the  like,  does  not  necessarily  indi- 
cate any  abiding  faith  in  demons  and  charms  and  spells,  but 
may  be  only  a  sort  of  poetical  reflection,  a  traditional  reminis- 
cence of  sentiments  that  once  were  deep-seated  and  serious 
in  the  minds  of  earlier  and  more  impreapible  generations. 

Still,  the  inherited  experience  has  a^feSaigenough  hold  upon 
the  average  man  to  make  him  liable  to  occasional  outbreaks 
of  the  original  proclivity.  This  tendency  often  becomes 
strongly  marked  in  a  single  person,  who  will  infect  a  large 
number  with  whom  he  comes  into  contact,  and  we  may  then 
have,  for  a  time,  the  appearance  of  an  epidemic  delusion,  like 
the  delusions  of  primitive  times.  Such  in  the  main  has  been 
the  recent  craze  for  mind-cures,  faith-cures,  and  "  Christian 
science."  It  would  be  very  easy  to  demonstrate  that  these 
are  merely  revivals,  in  slightly  modified  forms,  of  notions 
which  have  periodically  taken  possession  of  feeble  minds  since 
almost  the  beginning  of  history.  What  I  propose  to  show  in 
this  paper,  however,  is,  that  similar  manias  were  prevalent 
during  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  more  particu- 
larly in  England. 

This  state  of  things  was  due,  I  think,  more  to  Paracelsus 
than  to  any  other  one  person,  for  the  mystical  element  which 
he  introduced  into  the  practice  of  medicine  continued  to 
dominate  the  profession  for  nearly  two  hundred  years.  But 
he,  himself,  was  a  product  of  the  supernaturalism  of  the  times, 
lA 


and  in  his  character  epitomized  the  spirit  of  the  age.  It  was 
a  period  in  which  astrology  and  alchemy  were  enjoying  a 
lively  revival ;  when  the  ignorant,  but  honest,  believer  in  plan- 
etary influences  and  metallic  transmutations  could  hardly  be 
distinguished  from  the  sordid  trafficker  in  unlawful  secrets, 
either  social  or  political,  which  were  often  concealed  under 
the  garb  of  a  pretended  science,  or  conveyed  from  person 
to  person  in  the  language  of  a  pseudo-philosophy.  Men 
claiming  intellectual  authority  over  their  fellow-men  were 
seeking  not  to  instruct  and  to  elevate,  but  to  mystifj/  and  to 
overawe.  It  was  a  time,  too,  when  even  religion  spoke  in  un- 
known tongues,  and  when  incoherency  of  utterance  stood  for 
inspiration  and  prophecy.  A  mongrel  jargon  of  science, 
theology,  and  philosophy  had  taken  the  place  of  the  homely 
vernacular,  or  the  lucid  Latin,  and  the  professions  of  the  clergy, 
the  doctor,  the  scientist,  and  the  magician  had  become  hope- 
lessly mixed.  Hence  the  Church  was  encouraging  the  pursuit 
of  demons  and  witches  with  exorcisms,  burnings,  and  drown- 
ings ;  the  legal  authorities  were  searching  out  right  and  wrong 
by  ordeals,  tortures,  and  appeals  to  chance  and  fate,  and  the 
physicians  were  going  about  curing  diseases  by  amulets,  touch- 
ings,  incantations,  and  prayers.  There  was  but  little  medicine 
in  Paracelsus's  wallet,  but  much  magic  in  his  sword-hilt,  and 
great  piety  in  his  discourse. 

Like  some  of  his  modern  imitators,  he  justified  his  methods 
by  ascribing  magical  powers  to  Christ  and  the  apostles,  as 
exemplified  in  their  healing  the  sick  by  the  laying-on  of 
hands,  and  by  appealing  to  Christ's  promise  that  his  true  fol- 
lowers would  do  even  greater  things  of  this  kind  than  he  did. 
He  declared  that  while  a  dead  saint  had  no  power  to  heal, 
a  live  saint  might  work  recovery  from  sickness  by  means  of  a 
divine  influence  working  through  him.  For  this  purpose, 
faith,  he  said,  had  more  potency  than  merely  physical  reme- 
dies. In  fact,  through  faith,  he  held  that  one  might  accom- 
plish what  he  pleased,  even  overcoming  nature,  since  faith  is  a 
spiritual  force  and  superior  to  nature.  He  also  advanced  the 
doctrine  preached  in  these  later  times,  that  the  possessor 
of  these  supernatural  curative  powers  is  specially  ordained  of 


God,  and  acquires  his  gift  through  personal  holiness  rather 
than  by  special  learning.  According  to  Hartmann,^  Paracelsus 
taught  that  "  imagination  is  the  cause  of  many  diseases  ;  faith 
is  the  cure  for  all.  If  we  cannot  cure  a  disease  by  faith,  it  is 
because  our  faith  is  too  weak  ;  but  our  faith  is  weak  on  account 
of  our  want  of  knowledge  ;  if  we  were  conscious  of  the  power 
of  God  in  ourselves,  we  could  never  fail.  The  power  of  amu- 
lets does  not  rest  so  much  in  the  material  of  which  they  are 
made  as  in  the  faith  with  which  they  are  worn  ;  the  curative 
power  of  medicines  often  consists,  not  so  much  in  the  spirit 
that  is  hidden  in  them,  as  in  the  spirit  in  which  they  are  taken. 
Faith  will  make  them  efficacious  ;  doubt  will  destroy  their 
virtues." 

Unlike  modern  faith-healers,  Paracelsus  did  not  wholly 
abandon  the  use  of  material  remedies.  On  the  contrary,  he 
is  generally  regarded  as  the  originator  of  the  whole  system 
of  chemical  medicine,  and  we  have  abundant  evidence  that 
he  paid  much  attention  to  botanical  drugs.  But,  as  we  have 
already  seen,  he  regarded  both  vegetable  and  mineral  prep- 
arations largely  as  means  for  the  awakening  and  directing 
of  the  curative  power  of  faith.  For  the  same  purpose  he 
employed  amulets,  talismans,  and  magical  ointments,  and  in 
the  preparation  of  all  these  he  gave  careful  heed  to  the  super- 
stitious requirements  of  alchemy  and  astrology. 

In  this  connection  he  bestowed  his  approval  upon  the 
curious  doctrine  of  signatures,  which  was  afterward  so  elabo- 
rately set  forth  as  regards  plants  by  Giambattista  della 
Porta."  This  theory  had  two  applications :  first,  to  the 
ascertainment,  by  some  appearance  in  the  thing  to  be  em- 
ployed as  a  remedy,  of  its  fitness  for  application  to  the  par- 
ticular part  to  be  healed ;  and,  second,  to  the  selection  of  a 
plant  or  other  object  into  which  the  disease  could  be  trans- 
planted,  because  of    some    similarity  believed    to  exist    be- 

l"The  Life  of  Philippus  Theophras-  See,  also,  "  Paracelsi  Opera  Omnia." 

tus  Bombast,  of  Hohenheim,  known  by  Geneva,  1658. 

the  name  of  Paracelsus,  and  the  Sub-  2  « Phytognomonica,"    4to,    Naples, 

stance  of  his  Teachings,  &c."  By  Franz  1588;  8vo,  Francofurt,  1591. 
Hartmann,  M.  D.     London,  1887. 


tween  it  and  the  affected  organ,  through  which  both  would 
have  an  affinity  for  the  particular  disease.  This  affinity  was 
supposed  to  be  signified  by  the  physical  characteristics  of  herbs, 
roots,  etc.,  so  that  the  red  juice  of  Sanguinaria,  the  liver-like 
leaf  of  Hefiatica,  and  the  eye-like  inflorescence  of  certain  of 
the  Composit(£,  indicated  the  appropriateness  of  these  plants 
respectively  in  affections  of  the  circulatory,  the  digestive,  and 
the  optical  organs.* 

The  power  by  which  ailments  might  be  removed  from 
the  human  body  and  conveyed  into  a  plant  or  an  animal,  or 
other  fit  receptacle,  was  conceived  to  be  a  sort  of  magnetism  ; 
and  an  intermediate  object  was  generally  used  in  the  process 
of  transplantation,  and  was  called  a  magnet.  Thus,  in  a  case 
of  toothache  the  gums  were  to  be  rubbed  with  the  root  of 
Scnecio  vulgaris  until  they  bled,  and  then  the  root  was  to  be 
reburied  in  the  earth,  whereupon  the  cause  of  the  pain  would 
be  carried  away  with  the  blood  and  retained  at  a  distance 
by  the  attraction  of  the  plant.  Or,  for  the  same  malady,  the 
tooth  might  be  picked  with  a  splinter  of  blackthorn  or  willow, 
after  which  the  toothpick  was  to  be  grafted  into  the  original 
tree,  whither  the  toothache  would  be  securely  banished.'  These 
cures  were  spoken  of  as  accomplished  sympathetically  ;  that 
is,  through  a  magnetical  sympathy  existing  between  the  inani- 
mate object  to  which  or  by  which  the  disease  was  conveyed 
and  the  animate  one  from  which  it  was  taken. 

A  certain  degree  of  rapport  was  usually  insisted  upon  as 
necessary  between  the  patient  and  the  practitioner  also,  and 
hence  the  literature  of  this  subject  came  to  abound  with  never- 
ending  discussions,  physical  and  metaphysical,  respecting  the 
operation  and  effects  of  sympathy  and  antipathy. 

Paracelsus  has  the  credit  of  having  invented  a  most  extraor- 
dinary method  of  applying  the  principle  of  magnetical  healing, 
which  attracted  attention  and  retained  its  adherents  for  more 


1  See  "Occult  Physick;  or,  the  three  2  gee  "  Hermanni  Grube,    Med.    & 

principles  in  nature  antagonized,  of  the  Phil.    D.     De    Transplantatione   Mor- 

magical  and  physical  vertues  of  Beasts,  borum."     Hamburg,  1674.      And  also 

Trees  and  Herbs,  of  Medicines  for  all  Bartholinus,  "De  Transplantatione  Mor- 

Diseases,  &c.,"  by  W.  W.,  1660.  boruni,"  Hafniae,  1673. 


9 

than  a  hundred  and  fifty  years,  and  which  gave  rise  to  what 
we  cannot  but  regard  as  a  school  of  practice,  in  which  Van 
Helmont,  in  Brussels,  and  Robert  Fludd,^  in  London,  became 
the  leaders  fifty  years  after  the  death  of  Paracelsus  in  1541. 
The  remarkable  invention  to  which  I  refer  was  that  of  the 
so-called  sympathetical  ointment,  of  which  Paracelsus  himself 
says  :  "  Simpathy,  or  Compassion,  hath  a  very  great  power  to 
operate  in  humane  things :  As  if  you  take  Moss,  that  groweth 
upon  a  Scull,  or  Bone  of  a  dead  body  that  hath  lain  in  the  Air, 
to  wit : 

Take  of  that  Moss |  ii- 

Of  Man's  Grease •  •  3  "• 

Of  Mummy  and  Man's  Blood,  each 1  ss. 

Of  Linseed  Oyl 3  n. 

Oyl  of  Roses  and  Bole-Armoniack,  each 3  i- 

Let  them  be  all  beat  together  in  a  Morter  so  long,  until  they 
come  to  a  most  pure  and  subtil  Oyntment ;  then  keep  it  in  a  Box. 
And  when  any  wound  happens,  dip  a  stick  of  wood  in  the 
blood,  that  it  may  be  bloody  ;  which  being  dryed,  thrust  it 
quite  into  the  aforesaid  Oyntment  and  leave  it  therein  ;  after- 
wards binde  up  the  wound  with  a  new  Linen  Rowler,  .  .  . 
and  it  shall  be  healed,  be  it  never  so  great,  without  any  Plais- 
ter,  or  Pain.  After  this  manner,  you  may  Cure  any  one  that 
is  wounded,  though  he  be  ten  miles  distant  from  you,  if  you 
have  but  his  blood.  It  helpeth  also  other  griefs,  as  the  pain 
in  the  Teeth  and  other  hurts,  if  you  have  a  stick  wet  in  the 
Blood,  and  thrust  into  the  Oyntment  and  there  left.  Also,  if 
a  Horses  foot  be  pricked  with  a  nail  by  a  Farrier  or  Smith, 
touch  a  stick  with  the  blood,  and  thrust  it  into  the  Box  of 
Oyntment,  and  leave  it  there,  it  will  Cure  him.  These  are  the 
wonderful  Gifts  of  God,  given  for  the  use  and  health  of  man." 
In  another  place  he  says:  "There  may  also  an  Oyntment  be 
made,  wherewith  if  the  Weapons  be  annointed  (wherewith  a 
wound  is  inflicted)  the  said  wounds  shall  be  cured  without 
pain.  This  is  made  as  the  other,  except  only  ^  i.  of  Honey, 
and  3  i.  of  Ox-fat  is  to  be   added   to  this.      But  because  the 

1  See   Robert    Fludd's    "Anatomic      nis    III.,  Partis  III.,   Liber  Secundus, 
Amphitheatrum,"  Sectionis  I.,  Portio-     Capita  VIII.,  IX.  et  X.  Francofurt,  1623. 
IB 


lO 

Weapons  cannot  alwayes  be  had,  the  Wood  aforesaid  is  bet- 
ter." '  But  the  magnctical  method  was  not  confined  to  the 
treatment  of  wounds.  Paracelsus  gives  us  a  formula  for  "A 
Sympathetical  Oyntment  against  the  Gout,"  and  his  works 
contain  numerous  prescriptions  for  the  preparation  of  charms 
for  the  removal  of  particular  diseases. 

The  introduction  of  magical  ointments  gave  rise  to  spirited 
discussions  as  to  whether  they  operated  beyond  the  presence 
of  the  patient  and  without  his  cognizance,  and  whether  they 
acted  by  natural  or  by  supernatural  influence.  On  the  first  of 
these  points  we  have  seen  that  Paracelsus  affirmed  that  what 
is  nowadays  called  "  absent  treatment "  was  entirely  practi- 
cable, and  that  the  salves  worked  as  well  for  beasts  as  for 
human  subjects.  Van  Helmont  afterward  testified  on  this 
point:  "I  have  seen  also  that  Vulnerary  Oyntment  to  cure 
not  only  Men,  but  also  Horses,  between  whom  and  us  certainly 
there  is  not  so  great  affinity  (unless  we  are  Asses)  that  there- 
fore the  Sympathetical  Unguent  should  deserve  to  be  called 
common  to  us  and  Horses." - 

One  of  the  latest  writers  on  the  subject''  describes  the  oper- 
ation thus :  "  A  magnetick  virtue  is  propagated  from  the 
weapon  anointed  to  the  wound,  by  reason  of  the  cognation 
and  continuation  of  Nature,  which  a  successive  impulsion 
follows  through  the  middle  of  the  air,  impregnated  by  the 
universal  and  primary  spirit  of  the  world,  with  a  magnetick 
vigour  and  power." 

This  explanation  is,  for  lucidity  of  style  and  brilliancy  of 
conception,  quite  worthy  to  stand  by  the  side  of  some  of  the 

1  "  Paracelsus  of  the  Supreme  Mys-  Translated  by  Walter  Charleton,  Doctor 
teries  of  Nature.  Of  the  Spirits  of  the  in  Physick  and  Physician  to  the  late 
Planets.     Of  Occult  Philosophy.     The     King."     London,  1650. 

Magical,    Sympathetical,    and    Antipa-  And  "  Oriatriice,  or  Physic  Refined,  be- 

thetical  Cure  of  Wounds  and   Diseases,"  ing  a  new  Rise  and  Progress  of  Phylos- 

&c.     Englished  by    R.    Turner.      Lon-  ophy  and  Medicine,  for  the  Destruction 

don,  1656.  of  Diseases    and   the  Prolongation   of 

2  "On    the    Magnetick  or    Attractive  Life."     London,  1662. 

Curing  of  Wounds,"  in  Van    Helmont's  3  "The    Art  of  Curing  Sympathetic- 
Works,  made  English  by  John  Chandler,  ally  or  Magnetically,"  by  H.  M.  Her- 
London,  1664.  wig,  M,  D.     1699. 
See   also   "A  Ternary  of  Paradoxes. 


II 

lucubrations  of  the  faith-healers  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
But,  fearing  that  his  theory  may  not  be  wholly  conclusive,  our 
author  goes  on  to  say  that,  "  However  it  is  done,  it  is  infal- 
libly true  that,  by  the  permission  of  God,  men  are  cured  after 
this  manner,  .  .  .  and  that  Wounds  are  healed,  although  at 
some  miles  distance.^  To  what  purpose  then  is  it  to  shut  our 
eyes  against  the  light  manifest  of  experience,  although  we 
cannot  trace  out  the  true  and  adequate  causes  how  these  things 

come   to  pass Galen  says  that  good  hope  and 

confidence  are  beyond  Physick,  for  he  cures  most  whom  most 
repose  trust  in." 

This  too,  you  see,  is  quite  in  the  line  of  recent  argument  by 
advocates  of  Christian  Science ;  and  the  doctor's  zeal,  like 
theirs,  grows  by  what  it  feeds  upon,  and  so  he  goes  on  to  say : 
"  God  would  have  Physick  accompanied  with  Piety,  and  ex- 
pects himself  to  be  acknowledged  and  worshipped  in  the  use  of 
it.  Nevertheless,  many  things  lye  hid  in  the  bosom  of  Nature, 
not  to  be  apprehended  by  humane  sence,  which  although  by 
reason  of  our  ignorance  they  seem  superstitious  and  irrational 
(because  their  causes  are  unknown  to  us)  yet  are  very  far 
from  being  guilty  of  that  crime."  For  some  reason  or  another, 
however,  this  ingenious  writer  was  not  content  to  leave  the 
matter  here,  but  must  add  a  train  of  reasoning  in  the  line  of 
modern  theories  of  suggestion,  expectancy,  or  mental  bias,  by 
saying :  "  I  think  that  a  perswasian  in  itself,  either  by  Faith 
or  Credibility  [creduHty  ?]  cannot  effect  anything,  but  it  causes 
a  sudden  motion  of  the  Spirits  and  Minds,  in  very  soft  and 
tender  Natures,  by  which  the  blood  is  carried  about  by  a 
various  Flux,  and  at  once  removes  the  morbifick  causes  from 
the  parts  aggrieved,  by  which  means  the  distemper  ceases. 
Here  is  no  superstition,  unless  superstitious  persons  create  it 
by  attributing  the  effect  to  other  causes." 

On  this  question  of  the  naturalness  or  superstitiousness  of 
the  method,  Van  Helmont  entered  into  a  heated  controversy 

1  See  "  Medicina  Diastatica,  or  Sym-  Paracelsus,     by     Andrea     Tentzelius, 

patheticall  Mumie;  teaching    the   Mag-  translated  out   of  the   Latine  by  Fer- 

neticall  cure   of    Diseases   at  distance,  dinando    Parkhurst,    Gent.       London, 

illustrated   from  the  Works  of  Dr.  Theo.  1653." 


12 

with  the  elder  Professor  Rudolph  Goclenius,  of  Marburg,'  who, 
it  seems,  "  endeavours  to  shew,  That  the  curing  of  Wounds  by 
the  Sympathetical  and  Armary  or  Weapon  Unguent,  invented 
by  Paracelsus,  is  merely  natural."  From  this  it  might  be  in- 
ferred that  Van  Helmont  took  up  the  contention  that  the  cure 
was  simply  supernatural ;  but  such  does  not  appear  to  have 
been  the  case.  In  fact,  he  seems  to  have  devoted  himself  to 
drawing  a  fine  distinction  between  sympathetical  and  mag- 
netical  action,  attributing  the  healing  to  the  latter,  and  thus 
repelling  the  charge  of  Goclenius  that  the  Paracelsian  method 
depended  upon  magical  and  superstitious  practices.  *'  Dost 
thou,"  he  says,  "  perhaps  maintain  it  to  be  diabolical  because 
it  cannot  be  understood  by  thee,  that  a  natural  Reason 
thereof  doth  subsist?  I  will  not  beheve  that  thou  couldst 
utter  so  idle  a  Sentence,  from  thine  own  Infirmity,  of  its 
Virtue :  For  thou  knowest  that  the  weaknesse  of  Understand- 
ing is  our  Vice,  not  that  of  things.  Make  hast,  therefore; 
From  whence  knowest  thou,  that  God  hath  not  directed 
such  a  magnetical  Virtue  unto  the  use  or  benefit  of  the 
Wounded." 

This  was  the  line  of  argument  pursued  by  all  the  Paracel- 
sian school ;  sympathetical  healing,  even  in  those  days,  seemed 
incapable  of  a  rational  explanation,  and  was  relegated  to  the 
realm  of  the  miraculous.  As  the  philosophy  of  hypnotism  had 
not  then  made  its  appearance,  and  the  theory  of  mental 
"expectancy"  had  not  begun  to  germinate,  the  assailants  and 
the  defenders  of  the  new  practice,  apparently  agreeing  that 
cures  were  actually  effected,  referred  for  the  cause,  on  the 
one  hand  to  the  direct  interposition  of  the  beneficent  Crea- 
tor, working  through  chosen  human  agents  of  personal  purity 
and  exalted  goodness,  and  on  the  other  hand  to  the  un- 
canny influence  of  the  chief  of  demons  operating  through 
men  whose  souls  he  had  bought  with  this  sort  of  magical 
endowment. 

1  See  other  disputations  on  the   same  nius.   Van    Helmont,    Fludd,    Becker, 

topic    in  "  Theatrum  Sympatheticum,"  Borell,    Kircher,    Sennertus,     Fracas- 

a  collection    of    twenty-five    tracts    by  torius,      and     others.        Nuremburg, 

Digby,  Strauss,  Rattray,   Papin,   Gocle-  1662. 


13 

It  was  on  this  issue  that  Robert  Fludd  entered  into  his 
bitter  contention  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Foster,  who  had  taken  it 
upon  himself  to  show  that  "the  wonderfuh  manner  of  healing 
by  the  weapon-salve,  is  diabolicall,  or  effected  onely  by  the 
invention  and  power  of  the  Devill." 

Against  the  charge  that  the  cure  of  wounds  by  the  weapon- 
salve  is  "  witchcraft  and  unlawfull  to  be  used,"  Fludd  maintains: 
"Theologically,  the  Cure  of  the  Weapon-Salve  to  be  good  and 
lawfull,  and  proveth  it  by  the  authority  of  holy  Writ  to  be  the 
Gift  of  God  and  not  of  the  Devill  "  ;  and,  theophilosophically, 
he  shows  "  how  it  is  grafted  or  planted  by  God  in  the  Treasury 
of  Nature."^ 

We  need  not  be  surprised  to  hear  that  quarrels  arose  about 
the  purity  of  doctrine  held  by  the  different  branches  of  the 
Paracelsian  school,  and  that  one  charged  another  with  having 
corrupted  the  master's  teaching  and  with  transmitting  a  spu- 
rious practice.  Thus  Van  Helmont  declared  that  "  Goclenius, 
that  he  might  satisfie  his  own  Genius,  hath  altered  the  Descrip- 
tion [prescription  ?]  of  Paracelsus,  affirming  that  the  Usnea  or 
Moss  is  to  be  chosen  only  from  the  Skuls  of  hanged  Persons ; 
of  which  his  own  and  false  Invention,  he  enquiring  the  cause, 
blusheth  not  to  dream  that  in  Strangling  the  vital  Spirits 
entered  into  the  Skul,  and  there  remain  so  long,  as  until  that 
six  years  from  that  time  being  accomplished,  the  Moss  shall 
under  the  open  Air  grow  up  thereon.  Paracelsus  hath  taught 
the  express  contrary,  and  by  practical  Experiences  it  is  con- 
firmed, that  the  Moss  of  the  Skuls  of  those  that  have  been  slain 
or  broken  on  a  Wheel  is  no  less  commendable,  than  that  of 
those  who  were  strangled  with  an  Halter."^ 

Fludd,  with  his  taste  for  mystical  anatomy  and  physiology, 
attached  little  importance  to  the  usnea  or  moss,  but  placed 
great  stress  on  blood  as  an  ingredient  of  the  healing  ointment, 
and  explained  its  efficacy  in  the  following  ingenious  manner: 
"  We  see  that  this  Oyntment  is  compounded  of  things  pass- 
ing well  agreeing  unto  man's  nature  ;  and  consequently  that  it 

1  "  Doctor  Fludds  Answer  unto    M.  Foster,  or  The  Squesing  of  Parson  Fos- 
ters Sponge,  ordained  by  him  for  the  wiping  away  of  the  Weapon-Salve."    1631. 
2  Van  Helmont's  Works,  Chandler's  translation.     1664. 


14 

hath  a  great  respect  to  his  health  and  preservation,  for  as  much 
as  unto  the  composition  thereof,  wee  have  in  the  chief  place  or 
ranke  Blood,  in  which  the  power  of  life  is  placed.  Here,  I  say, 
is  the  essence  of  man's  Bones  growing  out  of  them,  in  forme 
of  Mosse,  termed  Usnea ;  here  is  his  Flesh  in  the  Mummy, 
which  is  compounded  of  Flesh  and  Balsame;  here  is  the  Fat 
of  Man's  Body,  which  concurreth  with  the  rest  unto  the  per- 
fection of  this  Oyntment.  And  with  all  these  (as  is  said)  the 
Blood  is  mingled,  which  was  the  beginning  and  food  of  them  all, 
for  as  much  as  in  it  is  the  spirit  of  life,  and  with  it  the  bright 
soule  doth  abide,  and  operateth  after  a  hidden  manner.  So  that 
the  whole  perfection  of  Man's  Body  doth  seeme  to  concurre 
unto  the  confection  of  this  precious  oyntment.  And  this 
is  the  reason,  why  there  is  so  great  a  respect  and  consent 
betwecne  this  Oyntment  and  the  Blood  of  the  wounded 
person."' 

This  sympathetical,  or,  as  he  otherwise  calls  it,  "  balsamicke  " 
nature  of  blood,  he  explains,  "  is  nought  else,  but  a  volatill  and 
essential  salt,  that  is  full  of  vegetating  and  multiplying  vertue, 
which  it  receiveth  from  above  as  a  precious  soule  to  vivifie  and 
animate  it,  the  which  vertue  is  that  Calidum  innatuni,  or  Natural 
heate,  by  whose  vertue  every  creature  doth  exist,  and  the  vola- 
tile vehicle  in  which  it  is  carried,  is  that  Hicniiduni  Radicalc,  or 
Radicall  Moisture,  or  Humidity,  by  which,  and  in  which,  the 
foresaid  vertue  doth  immediately  move,  and  act  unto  life,  vege- 
tation, and  multiplication."  - 

As  an  illustration  of  the  modus  operandi  of  this  wonderful 
"balsamicke  nature"  in  the  "Weapon  Oyntment,"  I  quote 
the  following  narrative  from  Fludd,  merely  remarking  that  a 
volume   of   such   stories  could  easily   be    collected    from  the 

1  For   other  extraordinary   explana-  cina    Magnetica;     or    The    Rare    and 

tions   of   the  process,  see    "  Medicina  Wonderful  Art  of  Curing  by  Sympathy 

Magica   tamen  Physica:     Magical    but  &c.      By  C.    de  Iryngio    [C.    Irvine], 

Natural   Physick ;      or     a    Methodical  Chirurgo-Medicine     in     the     Army." 

Tractate  of  Diastatical    Physick."     By  Edinburgh,  1656. 

Samuel  Boulton.   London,  1656.  2  "Doctor  Fludds  Answer  unto  M. 

The  following  work  is  almost  an  ex-  Foster." 
act  duplicate  of  the  foregoing:    "Medi- 


IS 

treatises  on  this  subject.  The  narration  is  given  on  the 
authority  of  Sir  Nicholas  Gilbourne,  who  was  brother-in-law 
to  Fludd,  and  is  to  the  effect  that,  at  Chatham,  in  Kent,  "  the 
servant  of  one  Poppee,  a  ship-wright,  was  cut  with  his  axe 
into  the  instep,  so  deep  as  it  could  passe,  and  not  cut  it  off; 
upon  the  hurt  (which  was  in  the  afternoone),  hee  was  brought 
unto  me ;  but  I  refused  to  meddle  with  it.      .  The  next 

morning  early  I  did  dresse  the  axe,  and  after  dressing  it  I  did 
send  to  know  how  the  fellow  did.  Answer  was  made  that  hee 
had  beene  in  great  paine  all  the  night;  but  now  lately  was  at 
ease.  The  next  morning,  comming  into  my  study,  I  strucke 
my  Rapier  down  upon  the  Axe,  the  hilt  whereof  strucke  the 
oyntment  off  from  the  axe,  which  when  I  found,  I  sent  to 
understand  how  hee  did  ?  and  had  answer,  that  he  had  beene 
exceeding  well  that  night ;  but  this  morning  he  was  in  great 
paine,  and  so  continued:  I  therefore  anointed  the  axe  againe, 
and  then  sent  againe  unto  him,  and  heard  that  hee  was 
then  at  great  ease  :  and  within  seaven  dayes  was  perfectly 
well." 

Fludd's  reference  to  an  "essential  salt"  in  which  the  "  bal- 
samicke  nature  "  of  blood  resided,  and  which  was  the  bond  of 
sympathy  between  the  wounded  person  and  the  healing  oint- 
ment, marks  a  transition  in  the  philosophy  of  this  subject 
which  finally  resulted  in  the  substitution  of  a  simple,  dry,  in- 
organic powder  in  the  place  of  the  complex  unguent  of  animal 
substances.  Thus  came  about  the  celebrated  "  Powder  of 
Sympathy,"  concerning  which  Sir  Kenelm  Digby  delivered 
his  "  Discourse  in  a  Solemn  Assembly  at  Montpellier,"  in  1657.^ 
He  had  been  one  of  the  first  council  of  the  Royal  Society,  was 
prominent  in  its  management,  was  a  friend  of  Des  Cartes  and 
other  eminent  men  of  learning,  and  was  high  in  political  favor 
and  influence.  His  advocacy  of  sympathetica!  healing,  there- 
fore, carried  great  weight  and  attracted  unusual  attention.  Sir 
Walter  Scott  refers  to  him  as  an  authority  for  the  lines  in  the 

1  See  his  work  "  Of  Bodies  and  of  Discourses,  Of  the  Powder  of  Sympa- 
Man's  Soul.  To  Discover  the  Immor-  thy  and  Of  the  Vegetation  of  Plants." 
tality  of  Reasonable  Souls.      With  two     London,  1669. 


i6 

"  Lay   of  the    Last   Minstrel,"    in   which    it  is  said   of  Ladye 
Margaret : 

"  But  she  has  ta'en  the  broken  lance, 
And  washed  it  from  the  clotted  gore, 
And  salved  the  splinter  o'er  and  o'er,"^ 

and  quotes  at  length  Digby's  account  of  the  case  of  Mr.  James 
Howel,-  which  is  to  the  following  effect : 

"  Coming  by  chance  as  two  of  his  best  friends  were  fight- 
ing in  Duel,"  he  "  did  his  endeavour  to  part  them,"  but  "  one 
of  them,  roughly  drawing  the  blade  of  his  sword,  cut  to  the 
very  bone  the  nervs  and  muscles  of  Mr.  Howel's  hand,"  and 
otherwise  wounded  him  badly.  "They  bound  up  his  hand 
with  one  of  his  garters,  to  close  the  veins  which  were  cut  and 
bled  abundantly."  The  surgeon  attending  the  wounded  man 
was  a  neighbor  to  Sir  Kenelm,  and  had  heard  that  he  had 
"  extraordinary  remedies  upon  such  occasions."  Having  some 
fear  that  the  sore  might  "  grow  to  a  Gangrene,  and  so  the 
hand  must  be  cut  off,"  the  surgeon  invited  Sir  Kenelm  to  visit 
his  patient  and  to  "view  his  wounds."  He  found  the  man  in 
nearly  insupportable  pain  "  in  regard  of  the  extream  inflam- 
mation."    "  I  told  him,"  he  says,  "  that  I  would  willingly  serve 

1  "  Lay  of  the  Last  Minstrel,"  Canto  Third,  Stanza  23,  is  as  follows: 

"  She  drew  the  splinter  from  the  wound, 

And  with  a  charm  she  staunched  the  blood; 

She  bade  the  gash  be  cleansed  and  bound  : 
No  longer  by  his  couch  she  stood  ; 

But  she  has  ta'en  the  broken  lance, 
And  washed  it  from  the  clotted  gore. 
And  salved  the  splinter  o'er  and  o'er. 

William  of  Deloraine,  in  trance, 

When'er  she  turned  it  round  and  round, 

Twisted  as  if  she  galled  his  wound." 

See  also  Scott's  "  Earl  Richard," — note  to  the  lines 

''The  maiden  touch'd  the  clay-could  corpse, 
A  drop  it  never  bled." 
In  this  note  reference  is  made  to  the  cure  of  wounds  effected  by  applying  salves 
and  powders,  not  to  the  wound  itself,  but  to  the  sword  or  dagger  by  which  it  had 
been  inflicted;  "a  course  of  treatment  which,  wonderful  as  it  may  at  first  seem, 
was  certainly  frequently  attended  with  signal  success." 
See  also  Dryden's  "Tempest,"  Act  V,,  Sc.  I. 

2  Author  of  the  "  Familiar  Letters"  and  of  "  Dodona's  Grove." 


him ;  but  if,  haply,  he  knew  the  manner  how  I  would  cure 
him,  without  touching  or  seeing  him,  it  may  be  he  would  not 
expose  himself  to  my  manner  of  curing,  because  he  would 
think  it,  peradventure,  either  ineffectual  or  superstitious."  To 
this  Mr.  Howel  replied  :  "  Let  the  miracle  be  done,  though 
Mahomet  do  it."  Having  aroused  his  faith  to  this  satisfactory 
pitch.  Sir  Kenelm  says  :  "  I  asked  him  then,  for  anything  that 
had  the  blood  upon  it,  so  he  presently  sent  for  his  Garter 
wherewith  his  hand  was  first  bound ;  and  as  I  called  for  a 
Bason  of  water  as  if  I  would  wash  my  hands,  I  took  a  handful 
of  Powder  of  Vitriol  which  I  had  in  my  study  and  presently 
dissolv'd  it.  As  soon  as  the  bloody  garter  was  brought  me  I 
put  it  in  the  Bason,  observing  the  while  what  Mr.  Howel  did, 
who  stood  talking  with  a  Gentleman  in  a  corner  of  my  Cham- 
ber, not  regarding  atall  what  I  was  doing.  But  he  started 
suddenly,  as  if  he  had  found  some  strange  alteration  in  him- 
self I  ask'd  him  what  he  ail'd  ?  I  know  not  what  ails  me, 
said  he,  but  I  find  that  I  feel  no  more  pain :  me  thinks  a  pleas- 
ing kind  of  freshness,  as  it  were  a  wet  cold  napkin  spread 
itself  over  my  hand  ;  which  hath  taken  away  the  inflammation 
that  tormented  me  before.  I  reply'd,  since  then  you  feel 
already  so  good  an  effect  of  my  medicament,  I  advise  you  to 
cast  away  all  your  plaisters,  only  keep  the  wound  clean  and  in 
a  moderate  temper  twixt  heat  and  cold.  After  dinner  I  took 
the  garter  out  of  the  water,  and  put  it  to  dry  before  a  great 
fire.  It  was  scarce  dry  but  Mr.  Howel's  servant  came  running 
to  tell  me  that  his  master  felt  as  much  burning  as  ever  he  had 
done,  if  not  more;  for  the  heat  was  such  as  if  his  hand  were 
betwixt  coals  of  fire.  I  answer'd  that  although  that  had  hap- 
pened at  present,  yet  he  should  find  ease  in  a  short  time;  for 
I  knew  the  reason  of  this  new  accident,  and  I  would  provide 
accordingly,  so  that  his  master  should  be  free  from  that  in- 
flammation, it  may  be,  before  he  could  possibly  return  unto 
him ;  but,  in  case  he  found  no  ease,  I  wished  him  to  come 
presently  back  again  ;  if  not,  he  might  forbear  coming.  Away 
he  went ;  and  at  the  instant  I  put  again  the  Garter  into  the 
water,  thereupon  he  found  his  Master  without  any  pain  atall. 
To  be  brief,  there  was  no  sense  of  pain  afterward  ;  but  within 


i8 

five   or   six    days   the  wounds  were    cicatriced    and    entirely 
healed. "» 

I  am  sure  I  need  not  call  your  attention  to  the  practical  con- 
fession, in  the  foregoing  narrative,  of  the  employment  of  men- 
tal suggestion  in  its  most  effective  form ;  and  of  course  I  have 
no  occasion  to  remark  upon  the  unimportance  of  the  pow- 
der used  in  the  experiment  as  related,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  Digby  himself  regarded  it  as  an  essential  element,  and 
devoted  many  closely  printed  pages  to  an  exposition  of  the 
virtues  of  vitriol  and  to  an  elaboration  of  a  theory  of  its  oper- 
ation. Although  other  and  more  complex  powders  had  been 
employed  in  the  process  of  sympathetical  curing.  Sir  Kenelm 
declares  that  he  had  seen  "  as  great  and  admirable  effects  of 
simple  Vitriol  of  eighteen  pence  the  pound,  as  of  that  Powder 
which  is  us'd  to  be  prepared  now  at  a  greater  price."  The 
secret  of  the  sympathetic  powder  he  claimed  to  have  obtained 
from  "  a  Religious  Carmelite  that  came  from  the  Indies  and 
Persia  to  Florence,"  who  had  refused  to  disclose  it  to  the  Duke 
of  Tuscany,  but  who  made  it  known  to  Digby  in  return  for  "  an 
important  courtesie."  "  And  the  same  year,"  says  he,  "  he  re- 
turn'd  to  Persia,  that  now  there  is  no  other  knows  this  secret 
in  Europe  but  myself."  Nevertheless,  he  goes  on  to  explain 
that  he  had  given  some  of  the  powder  to  King  James  II.,  "in- 
structing him  in  all  the  circumstances,"  and  afterward  the 
King's  first  physician,  Dr.  Mayerne,  obtained  the  secret  and 
carried  it  to  France  and  communicated  it  to  the  Duke  of 
Mayerne,  from  whom  it  passed  to  his  surgeon,  who  sold  it 
"to  divers  persons  of  Quality,"  through  which  "the  thing 
being  fall'n  thus  into  many  hands,  remain'd  not  long  in  termes 
of  a  Secret,  but  by  degrees  came  to  be  so  divulged  that  now 
there  is  scarce  any  Country  Barber  but  knows  it.""*^ 

The  avidity  with  which  the  sympathetic  powder  was  sought 
after  by  all  classes  of  people  was  merely  one  of  the  signs  of  the 
times.  Every  sort  of  mysterious  curing  was  in  vogue,  and  it 
is  a  wonder  that  the  regular  practice  of  medicine  was  not 
completely  supplanted  and   exterminated.      With  the  faith- 

1  Digby,  "  Of  The  Powder  of  Sympathy." 
2  See  "  La  Poudre  de  Sympathie  Justifi^e."    By  L'Abb6  Baudelot.  Pahs,  1658. 


19 

healers  all  pretense  of  physical  agency  was  dropped,  and  even 
the  simple  solution  of  vitriol  gave  way  to  the  laying-on  of 
hands  and  stroking.^  Thus  there  arose  a  whole  tribe  of 
Ophiogenes  who,  like  their  prototypes  of  ancient  times,  went 
about  extracting  the  virus  and  easing  the  pains  of  every  sort  of 
infection  and  corruption  by  the  mysterious  virtue  residing  in 
the  tips  of  their  fingers.  It  is  said  of  Pyrrhus,  King  of  Epi- 
rus,  that  he  was  able  to  cure  certain  diseases  by  the  application 
of  the  big  toe  of  his  right  foot.  After  the  same  manner  the 
sovereigns  of  England  and  France^  had  for  centuries  been  ac- 
customed occasionally  to  apply  a  supposed  remedial  influence, 
through  the  touch  of  the  royal  hand.'^  But  now  the  mania  for 
supernaturalism,  which  had  become  rampant  during  the  time 
of  the  Commonwealth,  upon  the  restoration  of  the  Stuarts  laid 
its  irresistible  grasp  upon  the  king  himself,  and  forced  him  into 
an  extensive  and  elaborate  conduct  of  the  business  usually  given 
over  to  the  professional  physicians.  An  imposing  function  was 
carried  out  at  stated  intervals,  at  which  crowds  of  eager  invalids, 
whose  expectations  of  relief  had  been  raised  to  a  feverish  point 
by  previous  examinations  and  registrations,  were  admitted  to 
the  presence  of  his  Majesty  and  the  chief  officers  of  state,  and, 
after  taking  part  in  a  solemn  religious  service  especially  ap- 
pointed for  such  occasions,  and  conducted  by  the  court  chap- 
lains, were  severally  presented  to  the  king  by  his  attending 
surgeons,  and,  kneeling,  received  not  only  his  healing  touch 
upon  the  affected  part,  but  also  golden  amulets  ^  strung  upon 
silk  ribbons  which  were  hung  about  the  recipients'  necks.     In 


1  See     "Wonders    no    Miracles;    or  By  Henry  Stuble,  Physician."    Oxford, 

Mr.  Valentine  Greatrakes  Gift  of  Heal-  1666. 

ing  examined,  Upon  occasion  of  a  sad  '-^  See  Andreas  Laurentius,  "  De  Mira- 

effect     of    his     Stroaking,    March     7,  bili  Strumas  sanandi    vi  Solis    Galliae 

1665."  Regibus  Christianissimis  divinitus  con- 
Also,  "  A  Brief  Account  of  Mr.  Val-  cessa."     Paris,  1609. 

entine    Greatraks   and    Divers    of  the  3  See  Shakespeare's  "  Macbeth,"  Act 

Strange  Cures  by  him  lately  performed,  IV.,  Scene  3. 

written  by  Himself."    1666.  4  For  pictures  of  these  amulets,  see 

And  "The   Miraculous   Conformist:  Thomas  Joseph  Pettigrew,  "  On  Super- 

or    An   account  of  several    Marvailous  stitions  connected  with  the  History  and 

Cures   performed  by  the  stroaking   of  Practice   of    Medicine    and   Surgery." 

the  Hands  of  Mr.  Valentine  Greatarick.  London,  1844. 


20 

this  way  Charles  II.,  during  twenty-two  years  of  his  reign, 
from  May,  1660,  to  May,  1682,  bestowed  his  beneficent  influ- 
ence upon  92,107  of  his  unfortunate  subjects. 

Dr.  John  Browne,  "One  of  His  Majestie's  Chirurgeons  in 
Ordinary,"  who  took  part  in  these  imposing  ceremonies,  has 
left  an  intensely  interesting  account  of  the  whole  matter,'  in 
which  he  declares:  "I  do  humbly  presume  to  assert  that 
more  Souls  have  been  Healed  by  His  Majesties  Sacred  Hand  in 
one  Year,  than  have  ever  been  cured  by  all  the  Physicians  and 
Chirurgions  of  his  three  Kingdoms  ever  since  his  happy  Resto- 
ration."'" But  these  cures  were  not  exclusively  of  what  is  known 
as  the  "  King's  Evil."  Many  described  as  blind  are  reported  to 
have  been  restored  to  sight,  and  some  who  came  lame  were  im- 
mediately able  to  walk  out  of  the  king's  presence.  Of  course 
Doctor  Browne  insists  that  the  working  of  these  "miracles" 
was  not  only  proof  of  the  king's  divine  right,  but  also  evi- 
dence of  his  being  "  a  Holy  and  good  Man.  "  ^  While  he  urges 
that  "  there  is  and  must  be  God  Almighties  hand  going  along 
with  it,"  he  quaintly  but  candidly  admits,  as  to  the  beneficia- 
ries, the  fact  of  "  their  Faith  being  as  a  great  Ingredient  to  this 
Composition."  He  says  that  some  were  cured  the  first  time, 
but  others  required  a  second  touch;  some  had  strong  faith  only 
to  be  touched  at  particular  times — as  on  Good  Friday;  some 
attached  superstitious  importance  to  the  gold,  and  some  who 
did  not,  and  who  therefore  sold  it,  had  their  disease  seize  them 
afresh.     On  the  whole,  he  concludes  that  the  healing  power 

1  "  Adenochoiradelogia  :  or  An  Anat-  3  See  "  Explicatio  totius  Quaestionis 
omick-ChirurgicalTreatise  of  Glandules  de  mirabilium  sanitatum  gratia  .  .  . 
&  Strumaes,  or  Kings-Evil-Swellings,  cui  Reges  Angliae,  rite  inaugurati,  divi- 
Together  with  the  Royal  Gift  of  Heal-  nitus  medicati  sunt."  By  Rev.  Ur.  Wil- 
ing, or  Cure  thereof  by  Contact  or  Im-  liam  Tooker,  Chaplain  to  Queen  Eliza- 
position  of  Hands,  performed  for  above  beth.  London,  1597. 
640  years  by  our  Kings  of  England,"  Also,  "A  Right  FrutefuU  and  ap- 
&c.    London,  1684.  prooved    Treatise,    for    the    Artificiall 

■-^  See  Badger's  "  Cases  of  Cures  of  the  Cure   of   that   Malady  called  in  Latin, 

King's    Evil,  perfected   by    the    Royal  Struma,    and    in    English,    the    Evill, 

Touch."    London,  1748.  cured    by    Kinges    and     Queenes    of 

Also,  "A  Free  and  Impartial  Enquiry  England."     By  William  Clowes,  Sur- 

into     the    Antiquity    and     Efficacy    of  geon    to    Queen   Elizabeth.      London, 

Touching  for  the  Cure  of  the  King's  1602. 
Evil."  By  William  Beckett.     1772. 


21 

is  "  not  a  gift  of  Nature,  but  of  Grace,  neither  does  it  live  in 
Man  but  in  his  Maker;  not  in  human  confidence,  as  [to]  these 
Charms  and  Characters,  but  in  the  power  of  Faith  derivative 
from  the  Almighty." 

For  myself,  I  believe  that  cures  have  been,  and  are  nowa- 
days, effected  by  the  methods  employed  by  the  different 
species  of  faith-healers.  But  I  explain  such  cases  upon  the 
principles  which  have  been  comprehensively  and  convincingly 
expounded  by  Dr.  William  B.  Carpenter,^  with,  perhaps,  a 
reference  also  to  the  still  later  theories  respecting  that  wonder- 
ful phenomenon  known  as  hypnotism.  I  admit,  however,  that  it 
is  the  old  story  of  escaping  one  mystery  by  taking  refuge  in 
another.  Still,  I  am  not  sure  that  even  this  is  not  a  strictly 
scientific  process,  for  Science,  as  I  understand  it,  does  not  pre- 
tend to  abolish  mysteries,  but  only  to  furnish  ground  for  a 
belief  in  an  unbroken  sequence  of  natural  causes,  finally  ascer- 
tainable everywhere  except  as  a  first  cause.  Superstition, 
which  is  the  opposite  of  Science,  is  that  state  of  ignorance 
which  argues  at  once  from  its  own  lack  of  knowledge  to  the 
non-existence  of  a  knowable  cause.  The  scientific  spirit  is 
that  habit  of  self-restraint  which  accepts  the  uniformity  of 
nature  as  the  fulcrum  upon  which  to  move  its  own  knowledge 
to  a  higher  position.  Superstition  is  self-important,  and  ex- 
pects nature  to  change  to  its  requirements.  Science  is  humble 
and  self-abasing,  always  striving  to  adjust  itself  to  invariable 
law.  Superstition  fixed  man  and  his  little  world  at  the  center 
of  the  universe,  but  Science  disclosed  the  true  path  of  progress 
when  it  demonstrated  that  everything  human  and  mundane  is 
eternally  moving  onward  through  infinite  regions  of  new  truth 
and  new  experience,  inseparably  bound,  however,  to  a  never- 
failing  source  of  light  and  life.  Thus  it  is  that  the  dark  days 
of  centuries  past  can  never  return,  and  that  Science  has  gained 
a  supremacy  which  can  never  be  lost. 

iSee  his  "  Mental  Physiology."  Also,  his  "  Mesmerism,  Spiritualism,  &c." 


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